New Horizons - Minerva's Journey
by FUBARInbound
Summary: Minerva is, above all, the god of wisdom and strategy. Will this Battlestar live up to its namesake and, with its commander, prevail in this struggle for survival?
**Wednesday, 3 Months Before the Fall**

 _Commander's Suite_

 _Battlestar Triton_

 _High Virgon Orbit_

Admiral Robert Mikal pushed aside some paperwork as he sighed and rubbed his eyes. When was the last day he'd had a good night's sleep…? Anyway, he had to get ready – he was expecting someone. A knock rang out on the door – glancing at his watch, he could see that the said 'someone' was, as usual, right on time."Come in."

The door opened to reveal Colonel Jonathan Young standing to attention, his uniform immaculate. He stepped forward and saluted. "Admiral."

"At ease, Colonel. Take a seat."

Jonathan slowly walked towards the "hot seat" and sat down, not showing any emotion but of course feeling plenty – he was expecting a dressing-down for some reason or another that he had forgotten.

Robert opened a file labeled "Operation Stiletto – After Action Report". "You appear to have been performing quite admirably. According to Commodore Selene Hutchinson, you've made very good tactical decisions during all the strikes your Battlestar Group carried out and have actively aided in the success of Operation Stiletto.

Jonathan internally sighed as he realized this visit was, at least, a simple mission debriefing. He smiled and said, "Thank you, sir. I hope that those pirates are gone for good."

"Same here, Colonel." Robert smiled faintly and said, "Now, you are being reassigned for the next three months to Leonis Fleet Shipyards."

Jonathan couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Sir...?"

Robert chuckled as he said, "Don't worry, this isn't some old boring job. You'll be helping to put the final touches on the very first Minerva-class Battlestar, the Minerva herself."

Jonathan frowned slowly and said, "But…why, sir? I'm just a lowly Colonel. Why do they need me?"

Robert's smile grew wider as he produced a crisp white envelope. "Read this."

Jonathan took the envelope and slowly began to open it, before unfolding the message inside and scanning his eyes down the page. His eyes widened. "Is this…real, sir?"

Robert chuckled and said, "It's real, alright. You will be the first commanding officer of the Battlestar Minerva."

The Colonel blinked a few times before turning to Admiral Mikal again and saying, "Thank you, sir. If I may, what exactly led to this promotion? I don't exactly recall any… stellar performance on my behalf."

This led Robert to let out a big laugh. "Jon, don't be so hard on yourself! If you really want to know, it was that skirmish with the Sagittarian fleet a while ago. Admiral Nagala took notice of your excellent performance during that fight as well as your performance in your recent missions. Although you did lose a few ships, you defeated a superior enemy with sound tactical decisions. Also, those war games victories in the past few months didn't hurt. The admiralty was more than impressed by that."

"I see."

"Congratulations, Jon. Report to the hangar deck at 1400 hours tomorrow for the official ceremony." Robert produced a folder and said, "Here's all the information and specifications for the Minerva. You'll need to read this over and get familiar with it before heading to the shipyards."

Jon smiled in his seat and said, "Thank you, sir. I won't let you down."

"I know you won't. Just to let you know because this isn't in that folder - the Minerva has been assigned to Battlestar Group 72, under the command of Rear Admiral Michael Young."

"Understood. Thank you for this opportunity, sir."

"You deserved it, with that performance and service record of yours. Dismissed, Colonel."

"Thank you, sir. Hopefully I'll someday prove myself in real combat too."

Commander Young stood up, saluted his superior, and began to walk out of the room when he heard, "Wait."

Admiral Mikal chuckled and said, "I almost forgot. Remember how you said that you hated the CIC rotating doors on the other Mercury and Odin-classes?"

Jonathan said in confusion, "Sir…?"

"Well, I can confirm that the Minerva has sliding doors instead. I heard you liked those better."

"Thank you, sir. I'll definitely enjoy commanding her."

 **The Next Day**

 _Ventral Starboard Hangar Bay_

 _Battlestar Persephone_

 _Outer Gemini Asteroid Belt, Sector 14-B_

Jonathan stepped forward on the stage that had been erected in the hangar deck, head held high. Commodore Selene Hutchinson stepped forward, a small box in hand. They saluted each other.

"Attention to orders! The President of the Colonies, acting upon the recommendations of the Secretary of Defense, has placed special trust and confidence in the patriotism, integrity, and abilities of Colonel Jonathan Young. In view of these special qualities, and his demonstrated command potential, Colonel Young is hereby promoted to the grade of Commander, Colonial Defense Fleet, effective immediately, by order of the Secretary of Defense."

Selene stepped forward, opening the box and pinning the new rank pins onto Jon's uniform, before tossing the old pins across the room amidst chuckles. "You won't be needing that anymore, Jon."

Jon smiled and shook her hand, before stepping forward and taking his oath. "I, Jonathan Young, having been appointed a Commander in the Colonial Defense Fleet, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Colonies against all enemies, foreign or domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that I take this obligation freely without any reservations or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office which I am about to enter. So say we all."

The crowd repeated, "So say we all."

 **Several Months Later**

 _Port Hangar Bay_

 _Battlestar Minerva_

 _Leonis Fleet Shipyards_

Jonathan Young fiddled with his dress uniform in nervousness as he awaited his cue to step on stage.

"…and now, we would like to welcome onstage the Minerva's first commander, Commander Jonathan Young!"

The audience applauded loudly as Jonathan stepped on stage. He quickly cleared his throat and said,

"Hello, everyone. As everyone before me who's stepped onto this stage has said, this ship is a beautiful and powerful ship. I can tell you first hand that she inspires awe in anyone who even looks at her, let alone works on her."

A murmur of agreement spread throughout the room.

"I'm sure everyone here knows about the goddess Minerva. She is the goddess of wisdom, arts, and strategy. This magnificent vessel didn't come on its own – it was created by wise engineers who knew how to make it the best and most versatile warship ever built. But a beautiful ship must still have a great crew, which is the case – with our great crew, we will win not only by pofower, but by strategy, and I am sure that Minerva herself will guide our ship to victory. I believe she herself would've been as proud of this ship as we are."

He raised the ceremonial scissors and said, "I christen this ship, the Battlestar Minerva. May the gods bless her, and all who serve on her."

Carefully snipping a ribbon, he released a huge bottle of ambrosia and smashed it into the wall of the ship as the entire hangar bay erupted in cheers.

Jonathan Young smiled silently, taking everything in.

 **Day of the Fall**

 _Combat Information Center_

 _Battlestar Minerva_

Major Thomas Hawthorne, Senior Tactical and Watch Officer, walked up to Commander Jonathan Young, tablet in hand detailing any and all information deemed necessary for the commander of the ship. Snapping a perfect salute, he said, "Commander, Major Thomas Hawthorne reporting for duty, sir."

"As you were, Major. So, what's our status?" Jon asked.

The Major replied, "We are currently exactly 2 hours, 31 minutes and 8 seconds from our scheduled undocking time. All systems are ready, and we're just downloading the latest navigational updates now. Our Scimitar bomber squadron is scheduled to arrive in just over 2 hours from now."

Jonathan smiled. "Good. Begin preparation for departure. What's on the news?"

The Major scrolled through the message list and said, "Nothing much. The Battlestars Valkryie and Yashuman just jumped into Caprica orbit for reassignment. There was a small freighter accident over in Geminon orbit. The Armistice Officer's overdue from the Station and they're asking for free FTL-capable ships to check on him."

"I see. That poor guy, stuck out there on the edge of charted space without anyone else. Unfortunately, we're too busy with our launch, don't you say?" Commander Young replied with a smile.

The Major smiled and said, "Indeed. Nothing more to report, sir."

"Well then, resume your duties." The Major saluted again and returned to his station, once again rechecking the Minerva's scheduled flight route out of Leonis Fleet Shipyards.

Colonel Marcus Lindberg strode up to the Admiral, a look of pure professionalism on his face. "Commander, we just received the latest update from Fleet Command on our flight plan and assigned route. We have a slight coordinate change; we'll be traveling on a lower path and taking a slight detour."

Jon sighed and said, "Thanks, Marcus. Get the navigation crew to reprogram our navigation system. Also, call me Jon."

"Will do, sir…I mean, Jon." The Colonel strode away to the navigational station, papers in hand.

Suddenly, the information console screens flickered and went black.

 _Starboard Hangar Deck_

"Alright, team!" Senior Chief Petty Officer Samuel Galen yelled. The deck crew quickly put down their tools and looked up.

"It's just about time for departure, so we need our birds in shape stat! Team Alpha, get on Raptors 48 and 95 and prep them for flight. Start fueling up the CAP vipers and get them ready for loading. It's show time!"

"Aye, sir!" The crew scattered; some with hoses in hand to the Viper squadrons, some to their pre-assigned departure stations.

Samuel strolled around the hangar deck, keeping an eye on the work going on. "Sam."

He turned around. "Sheila. Didn't know you were here," he said, an icy smile on his face.

"Cut the small talk. We need to talk. After the launch. 1700 in your quarters."

 _Combat Information Center_

"Colonel, sitrep." Jonathan said with a frown on his face as he looked at the still-blank DRADIS screens.

"Not sure what's happening, Commander." Marcus said as he ran to the command console. "According to this…looks like CNP seems to have crashed on the primary mainframe. We'll need to perform a complete computer restart, but that means, obviously, disconnecting the networks and delaying our launch."

Jonathan sighed loudly and said, "Understood. Bring the backups online and start the reboot. Also, inform Yard Control we're going to be delayed on departure."

"Got it."

 _Pilot Briefing Room_

 _Battlestar Minerva_

"Alright, people, take your seats. We've got a lot of work to do today," Major Deke "Slowshow" Crowley, the newly-appointed CAG of Minerva, said as his pilots settled down and got ready for their first briefing. There was still some mumbling going on, especially from the somewhat newer members of Minerva's Viper squadrons. "Firstly, I'd like to welcome all of you lot to the Minerva. Hopefully, you won't frak things up too much on this ship, or the funny feeling in your ass when you screw up will be my foot smacking right into it." Laughter quickly filled the room. "Alright, pipe it down, people." Deke said. "Also, I'd like to extend a special welcome to our Scimitar Bomber squadron, Gold Squadron. They're the 8th squadron ever to be produced and assigned." Clapping ensued, as the newly-arrived squadron's pilots got up and did a quick bow.

"Alright, now back to business. Today, we've got a few things to do, what with launching the ship and all that. Firstly, Green Squadron, led by Captain Carlo Anderson, will be on CAP later. Don't worry, just because the Cylons aren't here doesn't mean you get to be lazy and not fly CAP." Another ripple of laughter washed throughout the room. "Quiet down, people. Next-"

Then the ship shuddered and everything went black.

 _Combat Information Center_

Commander Young slowly got up after being violently knocked to the floor. "What the hell was that?!"

"Sir! We've been hit by a nuke! Fires and localized decompression decks 10 through 13!"

Commander Young looked up at the DRADIS screen in shock. "Cylons…has to be…"

He remembered…something from a long time ago…

 _"Oh gods… they're headed right this way! Help!" He recalled… a man in a silvery spacesuit…_

 _"C'mon… let's get you safe and sound."_

Colonel Lindberg shook the Commander and said, "Sir! We have to move!"

The Commander looked down at the DRADIS console, knowing he was right. He turned to his CIC crew who were waiting for him and said,

"Seal all hatches and disconnect all docking connections immediately! Get our backup computers online stat and spool up our FTL for an emergency jump! Set Condition One throughout the ship!"

"Aye, sir." The ship sprang to life as the Condition One klaxons started blaring out the all-too-familiar automated alert, "Action Stations. Action Stations. Set Condition One throughout the ship. This is NOT a drill." At the same time, a chorus of "Understood, sir!" and "Roger that!" rang throughout CIC as people manned their stations and prepared for the worst.

Major Hawthorne, looking at his display in worry, said, "Sir – our primary computers are still mid-restart!"

"Well, use the backups then and send runners down to each station! Mister Jamison – Mister Jamison!"

Lieutenant Charles Jamison, the helm officer of the Minerva, was slumped over the side of his console, his head and a dented section of the console covered in blood. Master Chief Petty Officer Marco Celik, Chief of the Boat, ran over to the helm station and quickly took his place after gently lowering Lieutenant Jamison to the ground.

"Yes, sir?" he said in fear.

"Mister Celik – get us out of here!"

As the docking connections and enclosed boarding bridges on the shipyard were literally pulled out of their sockets, the Battlestar Minerva lurched backwards out of Berth 16 and into open space for the first time.

'So much for a smooth first launch…' Jonathan Young thought. He quickly turned to Mister Celik and asked, "How long until FTL is spooled?"

Mister Celik looked at his screen and quickly replied, "2 minutes at normal charge rate and 1 minute at emergency charge, sir!"

"Switch to emergency charge! We have to get out of here!"

"But sir, the capacitors could explode-"

"Well, let's hope they don't, then! We need to jump NOW!"

Major Hawthorne looked at the DRADIS readout in horror and said, "Sir – I'm reading 7-no, 8 capital size contacts, several squadrons of fighters and a lot of missiles bearing down on our position! Sir – I'm detecting a nuclear signature on them!"

"Major Hawthorne: Start up the ECM suite and send a distress call over the Priority One! Mister Celik: Give me 80 degrees bow up and 300 degrees starboard at three-fourths power! Put as much distance as possible between us and the Cylons!"

"Aye, sir!"

The Battlestar Minerva started turning away from the shipyards quickly, hoping to escape the inferno that was once called Leonis Fleet Shipyards. The wireless channels were flooded with cries and screams.

"Help! Oh gods, save us!" "Anyone, we need help! They've taken out our computer-""Oh gods, our engines are down! We don't stand a-""Tell my wife-""Krypter, krypter, krypter! This is the-"

The Commander looked on in horror as Leonis Fleet Shipyards turned into a pile of burnt scrap metal, taking with it every other ship that was docked there. Several of the crew silently cried at their stations, looking on as their friends, brothers and sisters perished in the screaming fire. Cylon Raiders wreaked havoc on the shipyards, destroying anything and everything onboard. A single Raider, noticing the Minerva creeping out of port, launched its remaining nuclear missiles.

Major Hawthorne, noticing new smaller DRADIS contacts, said, "Sir! We've got 5 missiles inbound! ETA to impact is 30 seconds! Sir – they just went radioactive!"

The Commander snapped, "Mister Celik! How long until FTL's ready?"

"25 seconds and counting, sir!"

"All ahead flank speed! Get us as far away as possible from those nukes before they hit!"

"Aye, sir!"

Mister Celik said, "Sir, we're ready to jump but we don't have any coordinates!"

"Just do a blind jump! NOW!"

"Sir, we could end up inside a star!"

"5 seconds to impact, sir!

"JUST DO IT!"

Right as the missiles got ready to unleash their full 50-megaton potentials onto the hull of the Minerva, the FTL drives released their pent-up energy and took the Battlestar Minerva to places unknown.

 _Cylon Basestar #0152_

 _Leonis Orbit_

Isabel, the Six in charge of annihilating the human colony known as Leonis, sifted through the datastream reports in her head. When she finished, she wished she hadn't. She turned to her aide, an Eight named Annabelle, and shouted, "Why and how the frak did we let a battlestar escape?!"

Annabelle recoiled for a second, then mustered courage and replied, "Well, don't shout at me. I suggest you blame James instead, as he was the one you assigned to destroy Leonis Fleet Shipyards."

Isabel sighed and tried to make a mental list of Battlestars that had escaped so far. "Ugh… How many battlestars have escaped so far?

Annabelle replied, "We don't know yet. There are rumors that quite a powerful fleet escaped destruction over at Virgon, but I doubt it. It's probably just radiation interference from our nukes. Anyway, we have an agent aboard the Minerva, so we're bound to destroy it sooner or later."

Isabel said impatiently, "Yes, yes… Now, let's get to work extinguishing humanity, shall we?"

Annabelle smiled and said, "By your command."

 _Somewhere in Space_

As the Minerva reappeared into unfamiliar space, Major Hawthorne reported, "Jump complete. No DRADIS contacts. What are your orders, sir?"

Jon said, "Set condition two throughout the ship. Major Hawthorne, launch Red and Blue squadrons as CAP and get the other squadrons suited up and ready to launch ASAP. Have the other 2 squadrons get suited up and ready for reserve duty. Major Hawthorne, find out where we are."

Working furiously at his console, Major Hawthorne said, "According to our navigational data and the sensors… it looks like we're in high orbit over the gas planet Kryjon. We should be able to remain here for a while due to the radiation interference."

Commander Young looked up at his DRADIS readout in relief; Kryjon was in the Gemini system and was a good location to regroup. He said, "Alright, then. Spool down the FTL drives and power on the ECM systems. Make doubly sure no one can see us here. Mister Leitman, send out a coded priority distress call to our Battlestar Group. Also, get a med team here for Mister Jamison."

Junior Lieutenant Markus Leitman, comms officer of the Minerva, began typing the message. "Aye, sir – message sent."

As Lieutenant Jamison was slowly wheeled out of the CIC on a stretcher, a beeping noise filled CIC.

"Sir! New DRADIS contacts!"


End file.
